End of Watch

Director: David Ayer David Ayer

Overview

David Ayer's End of Watch stars Michael Pe?a and Jake Gyllenhaal as a pair of L.A. cops and close friends who work to keep the streets safe. Shot in a found-footage style, the movie follows the duo as they make enemies with a major drug cartel and attempt to lead happy personal lives.

Product Details

Release Date:	01/22/2013
UPC:	0025192157837
Original Release:	2012
Rating:	R
Source:	STUDIO DISTRIBUTION SERVS LLC
Region Code:	1
Sound:	[Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround]
Language:	English
Time:	1:50:00
Sales rank:	1,315

Special Features

Deleted Scenes; End of Watch: Behind-the-Scenes Featurettes; Fate with a Badge; In the Streets; Women on Watch; Watch Your Six; Honors; Feature Commentary with Writer/Director David Ayer

Cast & Crew

Performance Credits

Jake Gyllenhaal	Taylor
Michael Peña	Zavala
Anna Kendrick	Janet
America Ferrera	Officer Orozco
Frank Grillo	Sarge
Natalie Martinez	Gabby
Cody Horn	Officer Davis
Maurice Compte	Big Evil
David Harbour	Officer Van Hauser
Shondrella Avery	Bonita
Richard Cabral	Demon
Yahira Garcia	La La
Jaime FitzSimons	Captain Reese
Candace Smith	Actor
David Sardy	Composer
Everton Lawrence	Actor
Zone	Too Tall
Diamonique	Wicked
Flakiss	La La
Manny Jimenez Jr.	Casper
Michael Monks	Homicide Detective 1
Kristy Wu	Sook
David Castañeda	Mexican Cowboy

Technical Credits

David Ayer

David Ayer	Director,Screenwriter,Producer
Nigel Sinclair	Producer
John Lesher	Producer
Matt Jackson	Producer
Adam Kassan	Executive Producer,Producer
Stepan Martirosyan	Executive Producer,Producer
Remington Chase	Executive Producer,Producer
Chrisann Verges	Executive Producer,Producer
Tobin Armbrust	Executive Producer
Guy East	Executive Producer,Producer
Randall Emmett	Executive Producer,Producer
Lindsay Graham	Casting
Mary Vernieu	Casting
Adam Avitabile	Special Effects
Paul Anthony Barreras	Producer
Jason Blumenfeld	Producer
Jillian Longnecker	Producer
Alex Ott	Producer
Jeff Rice	Producer
Ian Watermeier	Producer
Ron Bedrosian	Sound Effects
Charlie Campagna	Sound Effects
Julio Carmona	Sound Effects
Vaughn Williams	Special Effects
Martin De Boer	Stunts
Jake Gyllenhaal	Executive Producer

Editorial Reviews

In his various screenplays and films, David Ayer has shown a seemingly bottomless interest in the Los Angeles Police Department. As the writer of Training Day and the director of Street Kings (which boasted a script co-written by James Ellroy, another man who has made a career out of his obsession with the LAPD), he's returned again and again to these boys in blue, and End of Watch continues this motif. The movie stars Jake Gyllenhaal and Michael Peña as partners Brian and Mike, beat cops who pass the time during their shifts by hurling endless insults -- often racial -- back and forth, but only because they are obviously deeply devoted to each other. Over the course of a few months, they inadvertently anger a group of high-level drug dealers, while family man Mike helps soon-to-be lawyer Brian settle down with the right girl (Anna Kendrick). Describing the plot makes the movie sound like a routine buddy-cop film, and while it certainly stays true to many of that genre's conventions, End of Watch is actually a kick for two very different reasons. First of all, Ayer shoots the picture in a commando, first-person style that, though certainly flashy, never devolves into a frenzied mess. Early on, Ayer establishes the premise that Brian is recording their daily shifts for one of his classes, and even when he abandons this premise in later scenes, he maintains the grittiness and shaky camera work so that the whole movie has a cohesive and distinctive look. It's one of the most stylistically gonzo mainstream films of the year. The other appealing aspect is the work of the lead actors. Gyllenhaal and Peña have such a natural chemistry together that we're with them from the opening scene. Their offhand ease with each other is boyishly charming rather than frat-brother annoying, and their conversations often have the loose, go-nowhere vibe that was the hallmark of Seinfeld. When you combine this sensibility with the film's hyperbolic visual style, the result turns into something like an episode of Dragnet that looks like the first five minutes of Kathryn Bigelow's Strange Days. As unconventional as Ayer and cinematographer Roman Vasyanov's approach is, the story itself ends up being thoroughly conventional. The picture doesn't want to turn away from the gritty realities of being a member of the LAPD, but anyone familiar with basic storytelling structure can see how this movie must end by around the midpoint. Even with that flaw, End of Watch is so inventive, and so anchored by two highly enjoyable performances, that it makes for one of the more singular, if not entirely successful, entries in a genre that often suffers from stale sameness.